Wire-stretcher.



No- 8045461. PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

. H. L. FERRIS.

WIRE STRETGHER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11. 1903.

Minm5 5 e s W1. 2 M w PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

H. L. FERRIS.

WIRE STRETOHBR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 24 w W k.

T FIE.

HENRY L. FERRIS, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HUNT, HELM, FERRIS & COMPANY, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WlRE-STRETOHEH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

To (all whom, it 77066;] concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. FuRRIs, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Harvard, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVire-Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wire-stretchers; and .its object is to produce a device of this class which shall be stronger, simpler, and more elficient than those heretofore in use.

To this end my invention consists in certain novel features ofeonstruction, which are clearly illustrated in the accompanying; drawings and described in this specification.

In the aforesaid drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved wire-stretcher. Fig. 2 is a section in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 2. Fig.

. 3 is a section in the line 3 3 of Fig. A looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4: is a section in the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 5 is a top plan of my improved stretcher. Fig. 6 is a section in the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a section in the line 7 7 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is a section in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 8that is, in the direction opposite to that in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, A is a guide-rod which supports the entire mechanism of the stretcher. The rod is provided at one end with a guiding-eye A, preferably made integral therewith. It will be seen that this guiding-eye is provided with an open space through which the wire operated upon can be passed. This provides means by which the guide-rod can be readily supported by the wire and also makes it possible for the rod to be readily secured to and released from the wire when desired. At the opposite end the guide-rod is provided with a hook A adapted to be secured to a chain or the like and to be thereby attached to some stationary object. In the drawings this chain is shown as furnished at the end with a clamp, by which it can be attached to a wire, if desired, for supporting purposes; but it is to be understood that no such particular device is essential.

Upon the guide-rod A are mounted two similar reciprocable jaws B C. The form of these jaws is clearlyillustrated in Fig. 4, which isasection through the jaw B. This jaw only will be described, as the two are similar in all substantial particulars, but are oppositely placed upon the rod A, one being inverted with respect to the other. The jaw B consists of a cylindrical portion 5, running on the guide-rod A, a vertical support 5, having an integral gudgeon 5 a horizontal portion 5, an upwardly-extending flange If, and a flaring hopper-shaped flange b", the purpose of which is to guide the wire in passing over the jaw. Swinging jaws D and E are pivoted to the gudgeons on the two reciprocating jaws B C, respectively. These two rotating jaws D E are similar, and the jaw will be described, its form being quite evident from Fig. 3. The jaw D consists of a central p0rtion or hub (Z, perforated to receive the gudgeon V, a toothed contact-point d, and an up wardly-extending arm cl. The toothed end d upon the rotating jaw D cooperates with the horizontal portion 72 of the reciprocating jaw B to clamp the wire, as shown in Fig. 3. It is evident from that figure that the wire can pass to the left through the jaw, but not in the opposite direction. The reciprocating jaw O and the rotating jaw E cooperate in the same manner to permit the wire to pass to the left only in Fig. 1. The peculiar advantage of this form of jaw lies in its mechanical construction, which makes it particularly cheap and easy to assemble. The rotating jaw .D can before other parts are attached to it be swung around from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a horizontal position. It can then he slipped onto the gudgeon b and turned to the position shown in Fig. 1, when the upwardlyextending flange I)" will hold it firmly in position and prevent it from being removed. After the other parts of the device, which will presently be described, are attached to the jaw there is a spring-pressure which tends to hold it always in the position shown in Fig. 1, and it never swings far enough away from that position in use to be in any danger of coming off the gudgeon. By this method of construction rivets and the like are dispensed 'with, and the two parts can be cast and assembled without any machine-work. Upon the rod A are also guided two links F Gr, each of which is provided with laterally-extending arms f g, provided at the end with perforations of larger size than the rod A, which receive the rod. The link F is pivoted at one end to the upper end of the rotating jaw D, and the link G is pivoted at one end to the end of the rotating jaw E. A spiral spring F surrounds the rod A between the reciprocating jaw B and the arm f, and a similar spring G lies between the arm g and the reciprocating jaw C. These two springs tend to force the arms f g away from the reciproeating jaws B C, and consequently tend to draw the upper ends of the rotating jaws to the left in Fig. 1. This causes the springtension before mentioned upon the jaws and holds them firmly in the position shown in Fig. 1, but permits them to be swung from that position to permit wire to pass through. The amount of swing permitted is such that barbed wire can be passed through the jaws without any difficulty.

To the rod A is pivoted between its ends a lever H, one end of which is pivoted to the link F. The link G is pivoted to the lever H on the opposite side of the guide-rod A and at the same distance from the pivot of the lever as is the link F. When the lever H is swung upon its pivot, it will be seen that the two links, and consequently the jaws, are moved in opposite directions and that as the lever is oscillated the reciprocating jaws B and C, together with the swinging jaws attached to them, will be moved alternately to and from each other.

The operation of this device will now be readily apparent. The guide-rod A is secured to any stationary support by the chain, and the end of the wire to be stretched is passed through the guiding-eye A, through the reciprocating jaw C, and under the swinging jaw attached thereto, and also through the reciprocating jaw B and the swinging jaw attached to it. The lever is then moved in either direction, and whichever of the two reciprocating jaws is moved at that particular time to the left in Fig. 1 will take hold of the wire and draw it along. The other jaw, which is moving in the opposite direction, merely slips along the wire. rection of rotation of the lever H is reversed at the end of the stroke, the jaw which has been moving to the right begins to move to the left and pulls the wire, the other jaw letting go. In other words, one jaw or the other is pulling all the time upon the wire and the other is simultaneously moving forward to take a fresh hold farther to the rightthat is, on the side from which the-wire is being drawn.

This device is particularly advantageous because of its extreme simplicity, strength, and cheapness. It is made in such a way that the parts can be assembled with little or no finishing and with very little riveting or anything of that sort. is made simply of two parallel straps of metal riveted together and passing on opposite sides of the jaws to be reciprocated. This makes When the di-' The lever H, it will be noted, I

an extremely cheap and efficient lever and one which it is particularly easy to attach to a device of comparatively rough construction. It is to be noted also that the arms and g, which guide the links F and G upon the guiderod A, are provided with oval holes to permit the necessary movement of the links transverse to the guide-rod. The use of the eye A upon the end of the guide-rod is particularly advantageous, for it makes the wire the support for one end of the stretcher.

The flaring openings in the reciprocating jaws B and 0 guide the wire to the clamping portions thereof, so that when the barbs of the wire reach the jaws they will enter them easily and without catching.

I realize that considerable variations are possible in the details of this construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not intend to limit myself to the specific form herein shown and described except as pointed out in the claims.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A device of the class described comprising a guide-rod, collars slidably mounted upon the guide-rod, wire-grips carried by the collars and movable into and out of operative position, means for holding the collars yieldably at the limits of their movements in one direction upon the guide-rod, means for moving the collars alternately against the action of the holding means, and means for moving the wire-grips into operative position simultaneously with the movement of the collars against the action of the holding means.

2. A wire-stretcher comprising a guide-rod, jaws slidably connected with the guide-rod, means for holding the jaws yieldably at one limit of their movements, jaws pivoted to the first-named jaws for movement into and out of position to cooperate therewith, a lever pivoted to the guide-rod, links pivoted to the lever and to the pivoted jaws for movement of the latter when the former is moved, said links being arranged to move the pivoted jaws into position to cooperate with the first-named jaws, and simultaneously therewith to move the first-named jaws against the action of the holding means.

3. Y A wi re-stretcher comprising a guide-rod, jaws slidably mounted upon the guide-rod, means for holding the jaws yieldably at one limit of their movement, a lever pivoted to the guide-rod, links pivoted to the lever at opposite sides of its pivot-point, jaws pivoted to the first-named jaws for movement to cooperate therewith, said links being also pivoted to the second-named jaws, for movement of said jaws -into cooperation with the firstnamed jaws when the lever is moved to move the first-named jaws against the action of their holding means.

4:. In a device of the class described, the combination with a guide-rod, of two reciprocating jaws guided thereon, swinging jaws pivoted to said reciprocating jaws, linkspivoted to the swinging jaws, arms upon the links, guided to reciprocate upon the rod, but having a slight transverse movement with reference thereto, springs between the reciprocating jaws and the arms, and a lever fulcrumed between its ends upon the guide-rod and upon iapposite sides of the fulcrum between the two in IS.

5. In a device of the class described,the combination with a guide-rod, of an eye upon one end thereof, adapted to surround the wire and support one end of the guide-rod upon the wire, ears upon the other end of the rod for attaching the rod to a stationary support, reciprocating jaws mounted upon the guiderod, swinging jaws pivoted to the reciprocating jaws, links pivoted to the swinging jaws, arms upon the links, guided to reciprocate upon the guide-rod, but having limited transverse movement with respect thereto, springs encircling the guide-rod and confined between the reciprocating jaws and the arms upon the links, and a lever fulcrumed to the guide-rod between its ends and pivoted to the links upon theI opposite sides of its fulcrum upon the ro 6. In adevice of the class described,the combination with a guide-rod and means for securing the same to a stationary support, of two reciprocating jaws mounted upon the guide-rod, swinging jaws pivoted to the reciprocating jaws, links pivoted to the swing ing jaws, arms upon the links surrounding the rod and guided thereon and'havinga limited transverse movement with respect thereto, and two straps of metal forming a lever lying on opposite sides of the extremities of the links and of the guide-rod and pivoted thereto.

7. Inadevice of the class described, aclamp consisting of a swinging jaw and a reciprocating jaw, the reciprocating jaw having a hori Zontal portion and an integral support to which the swinging jaw is pivoted, one of said members having an integral gudgeon, and the other being perforated to receive said gudgeon, the horizontal portion being pro vided with an upwardly extending flange, overhanging the end of the swinging jaw, and serving as the sole means of holding the same in place.

8. A wire-stretcher comprising a lever, two wire-gripping devices, means for guiding the wire-gripping devices, each Wire-gripping device comprising a stationary jaw member and a pivoted jaw member and rods alternately reciprocated by the lever and attached to the pivoted jaws positively moving them to grip and release a wire, said pivoted jaws in turn sliding the stationary jaw's longitudinally.

In witness whereof I have signed the above application for Letters Patent, at Harvard, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, this 26th day of June, A. D. 1903.

HENRY L. FERRIS.

Witnesses:

BLAKE B. BELL, L. EUGENE NORTON. 

